Currently, a need exists to reduce the amount of packaging of optical cable elements and to develop optical cable elements with finger accessible buffer tubes that can be accessed easily in the field by a field technician. In the related art, buffer tubes are stranded (for example, helically or reverse helically) around a central strength member to form a stranded core. The thin walled buffer tubes are bound to the central strength member using a binder, yarn, or thread. In addition, each of the buffer tubes house an optical unit, such as one or more optical fibers or an optical fiber ribbon having a plurality of optical fibers that are held together in a planar array.
To reduce the amount of packaging and to develop a finger accessible buffer tube, thinner buffer tube walls have been used. However, the related art optical cable elements have several disadvantages. For example, the fibers inside the smaller buffer tubes, which may be less than 2 mm in diameter and have a wall thickness from 0.05 to 1 mm, can become stressed from mechanical forces from the interior of the cable. This is because polymeric buffer tube walls are compliant at such a thin wall thickness. Thus, the cable elements of related art have the adverse effect of exposing the optical fibers to radial stresses that are applied during further manufacturing steps. These stresses can originate from components such as the binders, the water swellable material, or the interior of the jacket.
Additionally, in the related art, the optical cable elements are formed by binding a thin walled buffer tube to a central strength member using a binder, yarn, or thread. However, to access the thin walled buffer tubes, it is necessary for a field technician to cut and remove the binding material prior to accessing the buffer tubes. Thus, the buffer tubes of the related art can be difficult to access in the field. Further, the binders or other similar stranding materials induce undesirable stresses on the buffer tubes.